


Lifeguard on Duty

by sailingonstardust



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Barduil - Freeform, M/M, Pre-Slash, lifeguard!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 23:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3588372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailingonstardust/pseuds/sailingonstardust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thranduil takes seven year old Legolas to the pool to play with his classmate Gimli at his son's insistence, despite the man's inability to swim. When Legolas tries to impress Gimli and fails, Bard swims in to save the day and might just get a hot date in the process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lifeguard on Duty

Thranduil scrunched up his nose as the smell of chlorine assaulted his nostrils. Beside him a seven year old Legolas tugged on his arm excitedly, prattling on about the games he and his friend from school, Gimli, would play in the germ infested public pool. Thranduil's hatred of the place was only magnified by the fact that he could not swim. The man had been reluctant to take his son to the cesspool, as Thranduil so fondly called it, but Legolas had been bugging him nonstop for weeks, a quite frankly he just wanted to get him to shut up about it. So it was with an air of haughtiness and disgust that Thranduil was dragged by his son towards a rickety table with a holey umbrella in the middle of it.

Upon reaching the dirty piece of plastic, Legolas kicked off his shoes and made to run towards the water. Thranduil caught his arm expertly and gave him a stern “ _No running_. You need to put sunscreen on anyway; we can’t have you getting sunburnt.” Legolas groaned melodramatically, but Thranduil held his ground. “Now turn around.” He ordered and reached for the sunscreen. 

“Adaaa!” The boy whined as Thranduil rubbed the lotion across his son’s pale back. “It’s cooold!” 

Thranduil laughed despite himself and said “Just a little more… There! All done.” As Thranduil looked up, his attention caught on the lifeguard at the other end of the pool. He sat atop a high chair, a whistle hanging around his neck and sunglasses shading his eyes. He wore a tight shirt and shorts, and Thranduil could tell even from this far away that the man’s body was well toned. His hair was wrapped up in a tight bun, and he watched the swimmers attentively. 

“Can I go in now?” Legolas pleaded, interrupting his father’s staring, but Thranduil shook his head, as much to say no as to clear it.

“Wait a minute for it to dry.” His son groaned, but it quickly turned into an excited squeal as a redheaded man and a boy who looked like a mini version of him walked up.

“Gimli!” Legolas shouted and waved the boy over. Both of them walked towards the Greenleafs and the boys hugged excitedly when the father and son duo reached the rickety table. 

“You must be Glόin.” Thranduil greeted, and the man nodded. The blond was surprised to see how short he was; he couldn’t have been more than five foot five.

“Aye. And you must be Thranduil.”

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Legolas has had only positive things to say about your son.”

“Same here. I’m glad we could finally get them together.” Glόin smiled.

“Can we go in _now_?” Legolas pleaded, and Thranduil nodded. 

“If Mr. Glόin says it’s alright, it’s fine with me.” Thranduil replied, and both boys looked to the man questioningly.

“Aye, go on.” Glόin waved, and both boys turned and ran towards the pool.

“No running!” Thranduil reminded, and they slowed down almost immediately. They jumped into the shallow end with a splash, and Thranduil made to sit in a stained pool chair next to the table.

“So,” he began their inevitable small talk, “where do you work?”

“I’m an agent at Erebor Insurance.” The man stated, and Thranduil bristled.

Erebor Insurance was run by Thorin Oakenshield, and was the number one competitor to Mirkwood Insurance, which was Thranduil’s business. The two had not been on friendly terms ever since they both entered into the insurance industry around the same time. To Thranduil, Oakenshield was a thieving, business stealing backstabber, and the blond did not take kindly to anyone who worked with or for him. 

“I see.” Thranduil deadpanned. “Do you have any idea who I am?” He watched as Glόin’s expression became one of confusion.

“I can’t say that I do…” The man trailed after a moment. “Should I?”

He should _not_ have said that. Thranduil’s neutral expression morphed into an icy glare, and he informed him “I am Thranduil Greenleaf, owner of Mirkwood Insurance.” He did not need to say anything else before Glόin’s eyes widened.

“Oh, I… Sorry, uh… You know, I’ve got this really exciting book I’ve been reading… You won’t mind if I sit in the sun and tan a bit while I read?” The man stammered, and Thranduil smirked.

“Not at all. It’s been nice meeting you, Glόin.” Thranduil said sweetly, and the man nodded as he walked hastily away.

 _Well, that went better than expected._ At least now he could stare discreetly at the brunette lifeguard without distraction. Just as he had the thought, however, he heard a series of splashes coming from the deep end of the pool.

“Ada!” He heard the panicked shriek of his son’s voice, and he turned towards the sound with dread in the pit of his stomach. Sure enough, Legolas was thrashing wildly in the middle of the deep end of the pool with Gimli standing panicked on the side.

Thranduil stood up and ran towards the water, only to stop in his tracks. He couldn’t swim, and if the depth markers on the side of the pool were accurate, he would not be able to stand. Before he could think to let out a call for help, the lifeguard was diving gracefully through the water and swimming towards Legolas. The man grabbed his son and swam him to shore before Thranduil could really compute what was happening.

Relief rushed through Thranduil as his son sat up on the concrete, tears mixing with the pool water on his face. “Legolas, are you alright?” Thranduil questioned frantically, running his hands over his son to check for injuries.

“I’m… fine…” The boy sniffled through his sobs.

“Then what were you thinking?” Thranduil fumed. “You could have drowned! I didn’t think I had to remind you that the deep end is off limits.” Legolas shook his head through his sobs and Thranduil softened his tone a bit. “Then why did you do it?” He asked, wiping his little leaf’s blond hair from his face.

“I wanted to show Gimli how brave I am.” The boy admitted shamefully, and Thranduil shook his head.

“Being brave and being foolish are two very different things. I think today you learned the difference between them.” Legolas nodded and wiped his eyes with his small fists. Thranduil then turned to Gimli who stood quietly behind him and said “Why don’t you two go sit at the table for a minute?” Both boys nodded and made to move towards the old piece of furniture. Meanwhile, Thranduil turned to the lifeguard who sat a few feet away.

“Thank you. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.” Thranduil exhaled and the man shook his head.

“There’s no need to repay me; it’s my job.” He assured, but Thranduil wouldn’t have any of it, partly because the man was so attractive. Okay, _mostly_ because the man was so attractive. But how could he let an opportunity to take him out for coffee slip through his fingers? 

“Really, I want to do something for you. Can I least get you a coffee sometime?”

The man hesitated a moment before saying “I don’t know about buying me a coffee, but if you would be so kind as to meet me for dinner one night I think we could call it even.” His voice was playful, and Thranduil felt himself grinning.

“Hmm…” Thranduil pretended to ponder the offer, “I think I could agree to that, Mr…” 

“Bard.” The man completed, and Thranduil’s smile widened even further.

“Bard.” He repeated, enjoying the way the name rolled off of his tongue. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Thranduil.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Thranduil. Would you be terribly offended if I gave you my number?” Bard asked almost shyly.

“If you insist.” Thranduil sighed jokingly and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He entered Bard’s number as the man spoke it, and looked back up at him when he was finished. “I’ll text you later and we can work out a day.” Thranduil said, and Bard smiled.

“I look forward to it.” The man responded, then added “I’d better get back to work. It was wonderful to meet you, Thranduil.” 

Thranduil’s stomach fluttered childishly and he returned “And you, Bard.” With that the two men went their separate ways, each with a skip in their step. It would seem that perhaps the pool wasn’t quite as horrible as Thranduil had thought…

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short little thing I've had in my head for a while and finally got around to writing. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! :)


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